English Framework
Appendix 1 - Planning exemplars
Example 1 is an extract from the long-term plan of an English department. It shows how units of work are organised in the spring and summer terms. Notice that units of work are conventionally organised around skills, texts and topics, but notice that they vary in length to suit the size and complexity of the topic, and sometimes overlap and run co-incidentally.
In the first half of the summer term for example, the teacher is teaching the spelling unit in the form of a short starter activity to each lesson. The Skellig unit then follows in the main body of the same lesson. At the start of the second half term, the same teacher is teaching three units in one lesson: the spelling starter, the main topic 'Points of View', and then a third about private reading by rotating through the groups during groupwork time to review personal reading and set reading targets for summer reading.
Example 2 provides two of the medium-term plans from the same school. These are the Spelling and Skellig units being taught at the beginning of the summer term. Notice that medium-term planning is organised as units of work which vary in length and in how they are delivered. The plans pinpoint which objectives will be taught and how the unit unfolds over the weeks it is running. Specific details are left to the short-term plan.
Examples 3, 4 and 5 illustrate what the planning looks like at a weekly level. In example 3 the school has three full English lessons and a half lesson each week. The objectives listed at the top are those from the medium-term plan which are addressed in this week. Notice the spelling starter activity at the beginning of each lesson, and then how each lesson unfolds around the novel. This weekly plan is organised around the recommended lesson structure, but the school applies it flexibly when lesson objectives demand a different structure. Examples 4 and 5 show schools that have three lessons of English per week.
Further examples of planning developed in conjunction with QCA can be found on this website, which combine medium- and short-term plans in full Units of Work.
